Barefoot Preston and the New England Barefoot Runners organized a tremendous pre-Marathon fun run with Chris McDougall and other barefoot rockstars. Chris was in town with Born to Run: The Naked Tour, “a nationwide celebration of running’s bare essentials” and promo for the paperback version of the book that started me and most other barefoot runners.

The weather was less than stellar, but cool for running. We gathered at Marathon central on the steps of the Boston Public Library. Two days before the big event, the town, particularly the Back Bay, was buzzin’ with runnin’ fever.

Chris blew in with a bang, just before noon. At 6 foot 4ish with shaved pate and Hollywood smile, he’s not hard to spot. He’s about the most positive, engaging guy in the world and quickly whipped the crowd into a barefoot froth. After a little time with reporters and cameras, he pulled everyone together and introduced a number of other notables from the community: Tony Post, the Vibram CEO. Michael Sandler, the amazing (more…)